NSDI in India: The reality behind the dream

2nd NSDI Workshop

Ooty, Tamil Nadu, July 29-31, 2002

This Ooty Communiqué for NSDI is adopted at the 2nd NSDI Workshop at Udhagamandalam (Ooty), Tamil Nadu.

In the Indian context, NSDI envisions the creation of a structural framework of spatial information for sustainable development at all levels – individual, community, village/city, district, State and the Nation and to leverage economic growth. The Department of Space and Department of Science and Technology have taken the initiative to de?ne the NSDI Strategy and Action Plan – which has been enthusiastically endorsed by all concerned government departments, the corporate sector, academia and NGOs.

It is recognised that core competence has been created – in terms of human expertise, GIS databases, software tools, operation and maintenance of a spatial databases and utilisation. The NSDI datasets would include the holistic domain of varying types of data that are based on top-down and bottom-up collection strategies. Many of the major spatial data producing agencies are ready to provide their spatial datasets to the NSDI. Further, it is also clear that the de?nition, vision, perspective and implementation plan for NSDI now exists.

It is noted that the NSDI Task Force has made considerable progress in de?ning the technical design of NSDI and its attendant Standards on: NSDI Web-Server, NSDI Content, NSDI Metadata, Search and Access, NSDI Network and NSDI Exchange. It is also noted that work is in progress for de?ning NSDI Quality Standards; the NSDI Datum/Projection Standards; the NSDI Access Rules and a plan for human resources development for supporting the NSDI.

It is resolved that NSDI should become operational at the earliest.

Recommendations

The Workshop tasks the NSDI Task Force to urgently prepare a well researched, comprehensive policy document which is consistent with the NSDI objectives. The Workshop urges that such a policy document be collectively endorsed by the stakeholders of NSDI and placed before the highest levels of decision making in the Government for consideration and adoption at the earliest.

The NSDI should emerge as an empowered apex authority for makingand administering policies with reference to spatial data, de?nition and evolution of NSDI standards, designing and implementation of NSDI Servers, de?ne mechanisms for spatial data quality for NSDI, de?ne rules and guidelines for NSDI Access, de?ne rules/guidelines for agency participation in NSDI, constantly widen the scope of NSDI and ensure support for better governance and socio-economic development.

All organisations, institutions and persons in the public or private sector having spatial data assets which can conform to NSDI standards must be encouraged to participate in NSDI.

The NSDI Metadata Standard and the NSDI-Exchange Format as prepared by the NSDI Task Force should be taken up for a Standards Adoption Process by notifying them for public discussion (on the net) and then adopting them. The Workshop tasks the NSDI Task Force to initiate this process and formalize the Standards before adopting them as Version 1.0. The Workshop also charges the NSDI Task Force to formalize the NSDI Metadata Server, as designed, at the earliest so that it can be the ?rst step towards NSDI operationalisation.

Make optimum use of the presently available NICNET, other high bandwidth public/private networks to support NSDI; continuously support the expansion and enhancement of such networks to eventually enable effective utilisation of NSDI.

User requirements must be yet another driver of NSDI and thus the target application potentials of NSDI must be properly assessed and de?ned. The NSDI Task Force could take up a speci?c assessment on this.

NSDI Task Force is urged to make speci?c efforts to quickly complete important mapping programmes – availability of topographic maps in digital format for developmental applications by (March 31, 2003 as mentioned by SOI); availability of information on village location and boundaries and other applications (in about a year’s timeframe by involving Census, SOI and NRSA).

The private sector is seen as a partner in the NSDI initiative and its role is envisaged as providing IT solutions, services, human resources development and infrastructure, as also for committing its own data assets to such an infrastructure. The NSDI will proactively work towards bringing in an attitudinal change in the business environment governing spatial data in the country and usher in an era of innovative public-private partnerships towards the growth of a knowledgebased economy and society.